Surface-treating machine



Dec. 31, 1935- G, WENNERSTRQM 2,026,006

SURFACE TREATING MACHINE I Filed sept. 5,1953

a mechanism from dirt, suds and water, and it also Patented Dec. 31, 1935 SURFACE-Taurino MAcnmE Carl G. Wenner`strom,`Evanston, Universal Gear Corporation, a corporation of Illinois lll., assignor to 'r Indianapolis, Ind.,

Application september 5, 19s"3','seriva1N. 688,105

g ciaims.- V(ci, 74-421i This invention relates to surface-treating ma'- chines of the hand-controlled, motor-driven,` rotary type, and its prime object isAto improvethe design, construction and operation ofdevices of that kind.. It is shown and described'herein as a floor-treating device, but without limitation to such-'particular use.` e

An important object also is to overcome the objection of `grease leakage from the mechanism into the brush, sander, polisher, etc.,l orupon the floor or other surface being treated, which feature relates to the cup-shaped housing body which contains the immediate driving .mechanism and carries the brush or analogous member. This samefeature protects the operating provides for adequate and constant lubrication since the cup-shaped member `is adapted to hold a relatively large body of lubricating oil for the mechanismrlg A further objectis to provide a 'peculiarly sturdy and simple construction, of few-parts,

easily made and assembled, and which is noisereducing yand yet ,strong and durablel and has consider to be the best mode of carrying the ininterlocking means for the'brush indefinitely long-life in service. `Other .objects and advantages will appear hereinafter or will readily be appreciated by those skilledin the art Ias resulting from the principles, orfrom the con-A struction herein shown by wayof exempliflcation of the principles, and which'construction I-now vention into eiect.

In the drawing Figure 1 is 'a side elevational 'view showing my improved machine complete, fexcept for theoperating handle which is indicated as being of the usual kind and isfpartly broken away, and which may be of any suitable form or even omitted in some uses of the device; Fig-2 is a medial vertical fore-and-aft sectional view through the device, on an enlarged scale;

and Fig, 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, on the lineV 3 -3 of Fig. 2, showing readily-releasable or other abrading or polishing member. i The driving motor Ill may be of any appro- I2 holding the motor and itshousing on the ,horizontal interiorly-open plate-like ring I 4 which, in Fig. 2, is

shown as having an interior thickened and downwardly-offset portion marked I4`a. Current sup-- ply for the motor is had through the plug-in connector I5, and the motoris controllableby a V'for clearness that gear riate kind'. It is mounted in and enclosed by. the housingl I Iv havinga bottom wall- Ila throughv the flange ofwhich'extend bolts .3| and -at its periphery accommodated switch (not shown) in the hand,` of the operator intheusualway. l 1, l

Thebolts I2 Valso hold the open-bottom she11. like annular cover Il rigid with the motorh'ousving and ring I4, asshown inFig, 2.-."Ifhis cover Il adds to the appearance .and serves as a shield for protecting objects ,above the iioor fromthe brush or analogous member-when in use. Itis shown as a metal casting.

' The motor shaft 20has its lower bearing at 2| 1.0

inthe base I I a of the motorshousing,` and en the Imotor `shaft is a pinionv 23 rotating atmotor speedi.. The motor shaft terminates atthe bottom of pinion 23.

Motor pinion 23 mesheswithqa gear -24'which 16 I canies pinion 25,- shown asy being integral with gear 24, and these rotarytoothedelements 24 land 25 rotateonlthe axis ofthefshort vertical.

shaft 26.` Conceiving the toothed elements 24r` and 25 to be fixed rigidly to shaft 26 this shaft\ hasa bearing at 21 in extension I4a at the top and ina lug-like extensiony 2li-at the bottom. and Y which extension issuesintegrally from a tubular. downwardly-,extending bearingsupport 29 which is held rigidly bythe integral enlargedpart 30 having suiicient circular length `for the desired 4strength and is held bybolts 3l lrigidly to the y The part that revolves and- .carries.the circular brush is a..cupshaped member marked-.as a wholeB andconsistsrstof an annular ring 35 having an upper annular ilan'ge through which extends 1 -plurality of bolts 36 holding a nat ring -3l whiclrcomes in close association with the v erticalouter face ofthe annular, downwardly-projecting part I4a,; as shownin Fig. 2 and to prevent oil .leakage at this joint an annular gasket a bodily fixed relation to the motor housing,` and that the kframework I4, I4a secured to 38 is provided. The hollow interior of rotatable shell B is furtherenclosed by a fiat sheet metal or fiber ring 39 held'by the part `30 andabolts loosely' in an annular recess39a in shellpart 95. Y y

. vide raceways for theballs as shown. Means n .Ml

4 integral ring-like part 43.

tends thence inwardly by an annular horizontal ange-like part 42 to the downwardly-extending 'me bmsh u is 0f the usuaikind having a wooden disc-like base and brush elements extending downwardly therefrom. It has a central opening to accommodate the downwardly-prof jecting part 43 of the rotating cup-like member B which houses the gear mechanism. A laterally-extending lug 45 is integral with the extension part 43 and, as shown in Fig. 3, the base of the brush 44 isfprovided with a slot-like opening 46 which branches laterally at 45a and 41a to provide an inverted T-shaped recess accommodating the projection 45. The brush is applied by simply slipping it in` place and giving it a short turn to Vlool: projection 45 in a recess 46a or 41a. Ordinarily the motor lwill be driven in but one direction; but in the-case of a reversible motor the brush` would not come off, and on reversal would 'merely become locked ins-the other extension of the bayonet-slot recess. Any appropriate surface-contacting member. for -example a disc having `sandpaper thereon, or one having leather or fabric for polishing, or having otherfioorftreating elements, may be substituted for thetypical brush shown.

Since the inner framework marked as a whole A is relatively fixed, and since the outer framework B is rotatable relative to it on its central axis, bearing means are provided. between the members A and B1 To this end, and as the more convenient means for manufacturing and assembling, I provide la construction 'for housing B that includes a-removable closure in the form of a circular'plate marked 55m Fig. 2, and held by bolts 5l to the downwardlyextending part 43. An annular sealing washer 52-may be employed to insure against leakage of oil at this joint. v

Plate-like closure 50 has an upstanding hollow central stem 54 which is cylindrically machined externally to accommodate the inner rings a and c and the spacing ring 55 between them of a ball-bearing construction while the` coasting outer rings b and d and the spacing ring 56 t against the machined-inner'surface'of the extension 29 of fixed member A. These rings a and b at the top and c and dat the bottom profor holding elements in place include an annular flange 51 atvthe top andra split locking ring 58 at the bottom for the outer ball-.bearing elementsand there is a bolt 60 having a thin flat-head 6| and washer 62 overlying the inner ball-bearing element a, and a nut 53 on the bolt clamping the inner ball-bearing elements and spacing ring 55 tightly to the central stem 54.

In assembling this ball-bearing mechanism we may begin by positioning bolt 50 and its washer 62 as shown in Fig. 2, the closure :plate 50 and its stem 54 being removed. The several ballbearing units andthe spacing rings between them may be applied, the split locking ring 58 put in place, and then the closure 50 and its stem may bel inserted, with the bolt' 60 extend-v ing therethrough, kand then'nut 63 may be applied and also the bolts 5I.; Y

Briefly stated, the construction thus described comprises an outer rotatable member which is preferably cup-shaped and has a centrally-ai'- ranged upwardly-extending bearing member, and a rigid non-rotatable inner frame having a downwardly-extending bearing frame member, with bearing elements between these? upwardly- 5 extending and downwardly-extending frame members which are normally vertical and are preferably coaxial withrthe motor shaft axis, the outer rotatable frame member preferably being a non-leakable housing for the driving gears rotat- 10 ing on relatively xed axes with respect to the motor and which communicate their driving power to the outer rotating member, with a brush or other appropriate surface-treating member.

"held, preferably readily removably, on or at least 15- in driving relation to the cup-shaped member.

The main frame parts of the device are in my practice metalcastings and are so shown. The

gears may all be of metal, although if gear 24 and pinion 25 be of such material as Micarta," 20 v and which is a well-known composition for gears, the operation of the gears will be characteristically smoother. The ball-bearing units may be of ordinary commercial kind. The device is illustrated substantially to scale as it is now being 26 made.

For convenience and simplicity Iyshall use the term brush in the appended claims to indicate either a typical brush, a sander, an abrader, a

polisher or any otherapproprlate surface-con- 3ov tactingy element that may bel rotatedy by the mechanism for doing the work. v

Various changes anddepartures may be made from what is thus specifically illustrated and described without departing from the invention, a5 and lI contemplate vall such variations, changes and departures as being included in the scope of the appended claims. l.

Iclaimzl 1. In a surface-treating machine of'the class 40 described, the combination with a motor frame for carrying a motor having a vertical shaft adapted to rotate on an axis concentric with said frame, of a deep rotatable cup-shape member rotatably supported beneath the frame, an open 45 ing at the bottom of saidcup-shape member, a closure plate lior said opening including a hollow upstanding stem integral with the closure plate projected into the interior of said cupshape member, said frame having a bearing por- 50 tion extending downwardly within thelcup-shape member and having a hollow downwardly-extending stem concentric with the 'first-mentioned stem and telescopically receiving the first-mentioned stem, a plurality of axially 55.

spaced-apart annular anti-friction bearing members carried jointly by said stems, a bolt passing through the rst-mentioned stem along said axis and cooperating to secure said anti-friction bearing, members inposition to maintain said 60 cup-shape member and frame in rotatable relaitionship, andvintermeshing gears carried with*- ber, an internal gear on said rotatable member, a stub shaft-carried jointly by said housing and bearing member, said stub shaft carrying one gear meshing with seid pinion and another gear vertically spaced-apart annular anti-friction bearings between said stem and said bearing` member, the said healing member and rotatable member being oi' suil'icient depth to. accommodate the motor shaft pinion andthe vertically aligned bearings in vertically spaced-apa alignment.

cam. a. wnNNnavs'raoM. 

